ISIS Iraqi Militants Pressing Towards Baghdad

CNN – ISIS Militant fighters tightened their grip Sunday on western Iraq as security forces withdrew from a handful of towns in Anbar province, moving closer to Baghdad.

The news that Iraqi forces withdrew from at least three towns in the province raised questions about whether Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government is giving up on the region.

It also comes the same day that Iran’s religious leader condemned any U.S. involvement in Iraq, saying al-Maliki’s government can handle its own problems.

“The United States is trying to portray this as a sectarian war. But what is happening in Iraq is not a war between Shiite and Sunnis,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency.